"What sounds came from the street were distant, indistinguishable"

"What sounds came from the street were distant, indistinguishable" - Someone by Alice McDermott

"Whatever place we chose was our world"

"Whatever place we chose was our world" - Curse of the Pogo Stick by Colin Cotterill

"His young eyes stored away each play of light"

"His young eyes stored away each play of light" - Just Kids by Patti Smith

"It is hours to go before you sleep"

"It is hours to go before you sleep" - Escape from Spiderhead by George Saunders

"A half-baked suburban variety of witchcraft"

"A half-baked suburban variety of witchcraft" - The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike

"He wondered whether he had counted right"

"He wondered whether he had counted right" - One Step Closer by Iain Rowan

"If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it"

"If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it" - Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

"All is well"

"All is well" - A Death in Kitchawank by T. C. Boyle

"And what form does Gravity take, that gives it this astonishing power of streaming through the solid earth?"

"And what form does Gravity take, that gives it this astonishing power of streaming through the solid earth?" - The System of the World by Neal Stephenson

"Most people assumed it was just a stage-trick"

"Most people assumed it was just a stage-trick" - Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson

"I have a mission of immense importance"

"I have a misson of immense importance" - Absolute Friends by John le Carré

"I am an artist of the unobserved life"

"I am an artist of the unobserved life" - Absolute Friends by John le Carré

"I watch the kid walk down the street"

"I watch the kid walk down the street" - Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica

"There was nobody within sight"

"There was nobody within sight" - Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips

"These bloggers are an angry bunch"

"These bloggers are an angry bunch" - Pearls Before Swine 2008 Calendar by Stephan Pastis

"In the fell clutch of circumstance"

"In the fell clutch of circumstance" - Invictus by Willam Ernest Henley